Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is seeking a management firm to take over Pennsylvania’s $3.2 billion lottery system as part of a cost-cutting plan to privatize non-essential government services.
Pennsylvania would still keep overall control of the lottery, as required by federal law, but a private firm would manage the day-to-day operations, according to the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Under the plan, the state would see a guaranteed profit from the lottery, which could help boost lagging state revenues and provide needed help for programs directed at older state residents. The management company would also keep a percentage of the profits.
The Pennsylvania lottery is the nation’s sixth largest and has performed soundly since it was founded in 1971. But state officials are concerned that it may not keep pace with demands for lottery-funded programs as the population gets older, the Post-Gazette reported.
“Our state’s fast-growing population of older adults means time is not on our side, and we need to maximize funding for senior programs and services in a way that does not ask taxpayers to dig any deeper into their pockets,” Gov. Corbett said.
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